From the Scoutmaster's perspective

The campout to Camp George Thomas this weekend was pretty fun.  It rained on us on the way down and was pretty damp and foggy when we arrived.  The Duds got their camp set up pretty quickly, the Dragons/Vipers Patrols were close behind.  The Scorpions/Lightening seemed to take forever. It was pretty chilly Friday night.  The dampness goes right through the sleeping bags.  The low temperature was in the upper 20's.  All the fire buckets had ice on them, so we have a new batch of Polar Bears. Saturday breakfast went pretty slow.  I think the cold might have had something to do with it.  The last patrol finally finished KP and most of the Troop took off to do service projects for the camp.  The newest boys, led by Mrs. Wood, Mr. Reynolds and BA, took off to do some hiking, nature observation and map and compass work.  We finished our service projects shortly after lunch and the Scouts had free time to explore the camp.

Later that evening we were joined by Mrs. Pearson, Mr. Wood, Mr. Mingus, Chris J. (who had 5 teeth pulled the day before), Christian P. and Brian W. They came down to join the troop with Chris R's Eagle Court of Honor.  The COH was originally scheduled to be outside, but the cold brought it inside. A big part of the COH was put on by an OA ceremonies team.  It was really impressive!

Saturday night, the camp offered us the opportunity to sleep indoors in the warm.  The Scouts voted nearly unanimously to stay in the tents.  Without the dampness, the temperature did not feel as cold.  We still got below freezing as there was ice in the fire buckets.  That was Mrs. Pearson's first night to camp with us and she got her Polar Bear!